The Public Safety Committee will take up a resolution at its meeting Thursday to accept matching funds from the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Department of Emergency Medicine that would support a comprehensive study of the heroin and opiate epidemic raging across Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin.

The committee will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday (May 12) in room 301-B at City Hall, 200 E. Wells St.

Alderman Michael J. Murphy, who has helped push City of Milwaukee efforts to fight the heroin and opiate epidemic, said the measure would launch a two-year collaborative community-based, data-driven initiative between the City of Milwaukee and the MCW’s Department of Emergency Medicine to look at key metrics affecting those caught up in the epidemic.

“As a community we must unite to confront the tragic trend of increasing heroin and opiate addiction that is threatening residents throughout our city, state and nation,” Alderman Murphy said. “The overall goal of this project is to use data to drive targeted policies that will have a measureable impact in the community, and help us wage a better battle that can hopefully save lives.”

Dr. Stephen Hargarten, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the MCW’s Department of Emergency Medicine, said the matching partnership will commit $25,000 each from the department and the City of Milwaukee in 2016, and again in 2017.

First I want to give the Wisconsin State Journal and more specifically Matt DeFour credit for obtaining through open records requests information which is very troubling when it comes to Economic Development in the Madison area — an area which Representative Chris Taylor and I represent in the State Legislature (and which Senator Mark Miller next door represents many of the 1,000 employees who are losing their jobs).

The information obtained in the form of emailed communication with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce — a pro-business lobby organization — indicates that WEDC (Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation), Governor Walker's so-called job creation and retention agency apparently screwed up again.

This time WEDC dropped the ball by not looking into options available before they let other states lure away Kraft/Heinz and the Oscar Mayer plant and 1,000 jobs from the Madison area.

The information (e-mails) obtained by the State Journal is clear — WEDC knew months in advance of the potential Kraft/Oscar Mayer closing — that efforts to lure the Kraft/Heinz cheese processing facility in Beaver Dam away from the state were being conducted by the states of New York, California and Iowa.

While Oscar Mayer is not specifically mentioned it appears clear that the relationship is there and the end result speaks for itself.

WEDC has failed again — the Governor's job agency has proved to be incompetent in job retention especially in this case. Its failure has resulted in the loss of 1,000 jobs to the Madison area.

Meet the Republican Candidate for Mayor,BOB DONOVAN

Donovan is a lifelong conservative who has spent nearly two decades on the Common Council. Clearly, he’s not a breath of fresh air. The only two times that Donovan ran in a partisan election, he ran as a Republican. He's been praised by Republican Party officials, who say Republican donors are surely drawn to Donovan. In 2013, Donovan invited Republican leaders from the Wisconsin legislature to his district, where they attacked Mayor Tom Barrett and defended the actions of Madison Republicans against the city of Milwaukee.

Donovan has been described by many of his colleagues as nothing more than an attention seeker with little ability to get things done. The late Councilman Joe Dudzik once said, “While (Donovan) is riding around on his white pony, spouting off about this and that, he is largely ineffective and lame when it comes to working collaboratively with other council members.“

Instead of actually helping to make Milwaukee a safer place to live, Donovan has voted against increasing law enforcement officers four times in recent years. That hasn’t stopped the rabble rousing Donovan from making a career of grandstanding on public safety issues. Meanwhile his district has seen the largest percentage increase in crime than any other district in the city. In fact the increase is so significant that it was twice as high as the next worse district. Maybe instead of talking loud on crime in our city, he should be working with his colleagues to actually fight to reduce crime in our city.

But Bob Donovan does have his fans. They just happen to be Republicans. Wisconsin Republican Party officials have called Donovan “a good advocate for the city.” Really? Maybe his Donald Trump-like behavior appeals to Republican voters, and his policies appeal to Gov. Scott Walker, but in these tough times, Milwaukee can’t afford Bob Donovan’s dangerous divisiveness that would only steer the city in the wrong direction.

The Democratic Party of Milwaukee County is an all-volunteer organization, and serves as the local chapter of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Democrats value broad prosperity, mutual responsibility, effective government, a better future, and a stronger America. The DPMC meets at 7:00 p.m. on the third Monday of most months at J&B's Blue Ribbon Bar and Grill, 5230 W. Bluemound Road, Milwaukee. The next meeting will be held Monday, March 21, 2016.

U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore endorsed Tom Barrett's reelection for Mayor of Milwaukee today. "Tom Barrett is the proven fighter Milwaukee needs. In these tough times, Mayor Barrett is making a difference, setting up Milwaukee for a stronger future."

Mayor Barrett was honored to receive Congresswoman Moore's support. "It's an honor to receive Congresswoman Moore's endorsement. She's been a true partner and dedicated advocate for the City of Milwaukee."

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you! (Applause.) Hey, good to see you, Mayors. (Applause.) Good to see you. All right, everybody have a seat, have a seat. I would have thought that would bring back bad memories for Kevin, playing that song. (Laughter.)

The following is the statement of Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning in response to new reports from the nonpartisan legislative budget office showing budget numbers will fall nearly $100 million short of projections:

In a sign of growing economic turmoil, Gov. Walker’s administration quietly acknowledged over the busy holiday season that Wisconsin surpassed 10,000 layoffs last year as a result of plant closings and economic challenges. The dismal news confirms that 2015 was Wisconsin’s worst year for job losses since Gov. Walker took office – far exceeding the 6,186 workers affected by mass layoffs and plant closings in 2014. The dramatic spike in layoffs have surprised many given the strong economic growth in neighboring Midwestern states.

Today, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin repudiated the recent comments of Superior Mayor Bruce Hagen, and called on local leaders like Congressman Sean Duffy to do the same.

Hagen posted on Facebook earlier this week in reference to First Lady Michelle Obama, “She and her Muslim partner have destroyed the fabric of democracy that was so very hard fought for!"

“Hateful and dishonest comments like these have no place in American politics, and certainly have no place in Wisconsin,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairwoman Martha Laning. “The Democratic Party of Wisconsin strongly repudiates these shameful statements, and calls on local leaders like Republican Congressman Sean Duffy to do the same.”

Duffy has yet to say whether he agrees or disagrees with Hagen’s statements.